Machinery for making rope



' STATES PATENT JNO. HARRIS, OF NORTH HQOSICK, NEW YORK'.

MACHINERY FOB, MAKING ROPE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 13,309, dated July 24, 1855,

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I,JoHN HARRIS, of North Hoosick, in the county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for Making Rope; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure l, is a vertical central section of a machine with my improvements. Fig. 2, is a horizontal section, in the line :0, of Fig. 1. Fig. 3, is a horizontal section of one of the can fliers taken just below the nippers. Fig. 4, is a front view of the stretching rolls.

Similar let-ters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

My invention consists, first, in an improved mode of driving the fliers, where-` by their speed can be instantly varied at pleasure for the purpose of varying the twist, without necessarily stopping the machine.

It consists, secondly, in an improved method of securing the cans in their fliers, whereby great facility is afforded for changing them with rapidity. f

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A, is a base; B, B, are upright pillars, and C, a top frame; the whole forming the framing of the machine.

i D, is a vertical rotary shaft in the center of the machine carrying two disks or tables E, E', in which there are radial slots cz, a, to contain the bearings b, o, of the spindles, C, c, which carry the can fliers. The can fliers are each composed of a sole piece ci, secured to the spindle c, two small pillars e, e, secured in the sole piece and a head g, which contains a pair of spring nippers f, f, and is secured to the pillars e, e. Each flier spindle c, carries an inverted cone pulley z, and the whole of these pulleys are encircled by a stationary metal ring F, which has a conical interior, the face of which corresponds in Obliquity with thecone pulleys h, L. These pulleys are forced out in contact with the conical interior of the ring by springs i, z', and rods j, j, applied to the bearings b, b, the said springs and rods being placed in suitable cavities bored in the tables E, E', at the back of the slots.

As the sha-ft D, and the tables E, E', re-

volve, carrying with them the fliers, the pulleys 72 t, being forced outward by the springs e', e, against the inner face of the.

cone pulleys are caused to rotate on their own axes, and thus to give motion on their own axes to the fliers. In order to vary the speed of the fliers and thus vary the degree of twist given to the strands of the rope, the stationary driving cone ring F, is made ad justable higher or lower to come in contact with a larger or smaller part of the cone pulleys h, it, and thus give a greater or less speed and more or less twist as may be desired, and for this purpose the ring is supported at opposite points by two upright screws G, G, t-he lower ends of which rest in step bearings in the base A, of the machine and the upper parts of which have journals fitting to bearings in the top frame C, the said screws fitting to female screws cut in the ring. The two screws are connected by two cranks 7c, 7c, and a connecting rod, Z, at the top so that both may always turn simultaneously and correspondently and raise all sides of the ring alike or they may be geared together for the same pur pose. The springs z", z", force out the pulleys lah, or yield to allow them to app-roach each other as the ring F, is lowered or raised, so as always to keep the pulleys in co-ntact with the ring. It will be readily understood that this manner of driving the fliers enables their speed and consequently the twist of the strands to be varied while the machine is running, as the raising and lowering of t-he ring by turning the screws, does not interfere with any other parts of the machine.

The fliers maintain their upright position in all posit-ions of the ring- F, as they are held by the springs z", z", both above and below the said ring, and the sides of the cone pulleys and of the interior 'of the ring being straight, from top to bottom, the bearing of thepulleys against the ring is always in the same direction.

Instead of using a rigid metal band or ring F, and applying springs to the flier bearings, an elastic band or a band having springs applied to draw it tight may be used, and the flier bearings may be stationary, which will be equivalent to the rigid band and movable bearings. This lmethod of driving the fliers, is applicable either to bobbin fliers or can fliers.

I-I, H, are the cans, which instead of being cylindrical, like the cans in common use,

are 0f the form of polygonal prisms. They are represented hexagonal but may be octagonal. This is to enable them to be readily put in and taken out of the machine, to change `full ones for empty ones. By being made to lit snugly between the pillars e, e, of the fliers the cans are prevented turning in the fliers and caused to turn with them. Each can is secured in place by a collar I, which drops easily over itshead the said collar having a hole in it to fit and slide on the pillars e, e, of the flier and the pillars e, e, being each provided wit-h a shoulder n, seeI Fig. l, for the said collar to rest upon when in place to confine the can, and having spiral springs m, m, coiled round them between the collar I, and the flier head g, to force the collar down to the shoulders a, n. When the can is to be removed the attendant raises the collar I, and draws the can from between the pillars e, e. lVhe-n it is replaced the collar I, is held up, high enough for the can to slide under and the can pushed in between the pillars e, e, and then the collar allowed to drop down over it.

The center shaft D, of this machine is made hollow throughout to receive at-` its lower end, a yarn 0, to form the center of the rope and near the top there are a number of holes p, p, corresponding with the number of fliers each to receive one of the strands which are represented in blue color,

1 coming from the flier heads to be laid t0- gether in passing from the holes to a single hole g, in a cap J, which is screwed on the top of the shaft. Above the shaft D, there is a pulley r, over which the rope pass-es to the stretching apparatus.

The stretching apparatus consists of two conical grooved rollers K, L, arranged in suitable bearings at one end of the Inaehine. The roller K, receives a constant rotary motion by a belt s, but the other roller L, which is arranged with the base of the cone in an opposite direction to K, is arranged to turn by the friction of the rope as it passes around it. Both rollers are grooved in a similar' manner. The rope passes from the pulley 1, around the first groove at the small end of the roller K, and then around the first groove at the large end of the roller L, and then from one to the other of the rollers till it arrives at the small end of the roller L, and the large end of the roller K, from whence it is taken up. The bite or friction of the rope upon the roller K, is increased by a ridged pressureroller M, which is pressed down upon it by springs t, t, and prevents the possibility of any slipping of the rope upon the said roller K.

lV hat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The within described method of driving the fliers by means of the cone pulleys L., h, and the band or ring F, either the said band or ring or the bearings o, Z), of the fliers having springs applied to keep the pulleys and band properly in contact with each other at all times, and the band or ring being movable in the direction of the altes of the Hiers, to come in contact with a larger or smaller part of the cone pulleys and thus vary the speed of the fliers and the twist of the strands while the machine is in operation.

2. Making the cans H, H, of polygonal form to fit snugly between the pillars or side pieces e, e, of the iers in combination with the springing collar I, applied to lit over the top of the can, whereby the cans are enabled to be quickly taken from the fliers and replaced.

- JOHN HARRIS. Vitnesses Jos. Gro. MASON, WILLIAM TUsoH. 

